Purdue University is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. PURDUE UNIVERSITY Center for Plant Biology SEMINAR purdue.ag/cpb CONTACT US [email protected] FOLLOW US @PurdueCPB Co-sponsored with the Department of Biochemistry The Physiology and Habitat of the Last Universal Common Ancestor William F. Martin, Ph.D. Professor, Institute of Molecular Evolution University of Düsseldorf, Germany MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2018 | 9:30 AM | PFEN 241 The concept of a last universal common ancestor of all cells (LUCA, or the progenote) is central to the study of early evolution and life’s origin, yet information about how and where LUCA lived is lacking. We investigated all clusters and phylogenetic trees for 6.1 million protein coding genes from sequenced prokaryotic genomes in order to reconstruct the microbial ecology of LUCA. Among 286,514 protein clusters, we identified 355 protein families (~0.1%) that trace to LUCA by phylogenetic criteria. Because these proteins are not universally distributed, they can shed light on LUCA’s physiology. Their functions, properties, and prosthetic groups depict LUCA as anaerobic, CO2- fixing, H2-dependent with a Wood-Ljungdahl (WL) pathway, N2-fixing, and thermophilic. LUCA’s biochemistry was replete with FeS clusters and radical reaction mechanisms. Its cofactors reveal dependence upon transition metals, flavins, S-adenosyl methionine (SAM), coenzyme A, ferredoxin, molybdopterin, corrins, and selenium. Its genetic code required nucleoside modifications and SAM-dependent methylations. The 355 phylogenies identify clostridia and methanogens, whose modern lifestyles resemble LUCA’s, as basal among their respective domains. LUCA inhabited a geochemically active environment rich in H2, CO2, and iron. The data support the view that the first organic moleculaes — and life — arose from CO2 in a hydrothermal setting. To schedule a meeting with the speaker, please contact Ranae Wetli at [email protected]

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Purdue University is an equal access/equal opportunity institution.

P U R D U E U N I V E R S I T Y

Center for Plant Biology

SEMINAR

purdue.ag/cpb

Co-sponsored with the Department of Biochemistry

The Physiology and Habitat of the Last Universal Common Ancestor

William F. Martin, Ph.D. Professor, Institute of Molecular EvolutionUniversity of Düsseldorf, Germany

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2018 | 9:30 AM | PFEN 241

The concept of a last universal common ancestor of all cells (LUCA, or the progenote) is central to the study of early evolution and life’s origin, yet information about how and where LUCA lived is lacking. We investigated all clusters and phylogenetic trees for 6.1 million protein coding genes from sequenced prokaryotic genomes in order to reconstruct the microbial ecology of LUCA. Among 286,514 protein clusters, we identified 355 protein families (~0.1%) that trace to LUCA by phylogenetic criteria. Because these proteins are not universally distributed, they can shed light on LUCA’s physiology. Their functions, properties, and prosthetic groups depict LUCA as anaerobic, CO2-fixing, H2-dependent with a Wood-Ljungdahl (WL) pathway, N2-fixing, and thermophilic. LUCA’s biochemistry was replete with FeS clusters and radical reaction mechanisms. Its cofactors reveal dependence upon transition metals, flavins, S-adenosyl methionine (SAM), coenzyme A, ferredoxin, molybdopterin, corrins, and selenium. Its genetic code required nucleoside modifications and SAM-dependent methylations. The 355 phylogenies identify clostridia and methanogens, whose modern lifestyles resemble LUCA’s, as basal among their respective domains. LUCA inhabited a geochemically active environment rich in H2, CO2, and iron. The data support the view that the first organic moleculaes — and life — arose from CO2 in a hydrothermal setting.

To schedule a meeting with the speaker, please contact Ranae Wetli at [email protected]